Integris Health, Oklahoma’s largest healthcare system, is utilizing Balto’s AI-powered real-time guidance platform to significantly improve patient interactions and streamline operations within its contact center. Faced with the challenge of managing high call volumes and ensuring active listening across its complex billing and patient financial services, Integris Health implemented Balto to enhance quality metrics, reduce errors, and identify key patient pain points in real time.

Challenges

  1. Complex Patient Interactions: Integris Health manages thousands of patient billing inquiries daily. From payment plans to insurance queries, agents must navigate detailed conversations that require clarity, empathy, and adherence to healthcare protocols.
  2. Quality Assurance (QA) Constraints: Quality evaluation was labor-intensive, covering only a small percentage of calls. This limited visibility into overall call quality and agent performance.
  3. Identifying Patient Pain Points: The high call volume often obscured recurring patient issues, making it challenging to prioritize solutions and improve service.

Solutions with Balto

  1. Enhanced Active Listening and Quality Assurance: By using Balto’s checklists and real-time guidance, Integris was able to reinforce an “active listening” protocol. Agents now verify patient issues, confirming and restating the reason for the call, which is then scored for QA, ensuring a consistently positive patient experience.
  2. Data-Driven Insights: Balto’s reporting revealed previously unrecognized patient concerns, including frequent inquiries from Native American patients about specific tribal benefits. This insight allowed Integris to address these calls effectively by raising awareness across billing and registration teams.
  3. Efficient and Scalable QA: Balto enables Integris to evaluate a broader spectrum of calls without added labor, which previously limited their QA reviews to under 1% of total call volume. This capability improved understanding of the actual call experiences patients were having, which in turn drove better training and process adjustments.

Results

  • Improved Patient Satisfaction: With real-time feedback for agents, Integris Health saw a two-thirds increase in survey participation, from 15% to over 25%, indicating improved patient engagement and satisfaction.
  • Enhanced Efficiency in Issue Resolution: The AI-powered system highlighted patient needs more effectively. Integris’ billing teams could preemptively address issues, particularly around Native American health benefits, resulting in a noticeable reduction in call volume related to these inquiries.
  • Higher Quality Scores and One-Call Resolution: By focusing on active listening and prompt, accurate responses, Integris achieved better quality scores, quicker resolutions, and reduced need for follow-up calls, a critical measure of success in any healthcare contact center.

Conclusion

Through Balto, Integris Health has transformed its contact center operations by equipping agents with real-time AI tools that foster empathy, accuracy, and efficient problem-solving. This partnership has allowed Integris to optimize the patient experience, improve operational efficiency, and use data-driven insights to prioritize meaningful improvements across its healthcare system.